Vivarium size for an adult female lampropelma violaceopes

[Erin Wigglesworth]

Hi

Does anyone have an opinion on a suitable size of vivarium for an adult female lampropelma violaceopes? We currently have a confirmed female, juvenile (still has a stripy abdomen) with about a 4 inch legspan that lives in a House of Spiders 14 x 8 x 8 inch (HxWxD) tank. Should we be looking at moving her into something bigger, if so, what sort of size? We are aware that she will get bigger but have heard conflicting views on what is deemed a suitable size of vivarium.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Erin

[vincent winyard]

hi erin as a general rule the tank should be two or three times the size of the spiders leg span. the tank you have your t in at the moment sounds fine but perhaps you might want to increase the size of the tank after the next molt depending on how much bigger she is after the molt. hope this helps perhaps someone else might be able to ad more info to this answer in more detail.

[Peter Roach]

I would say that you could keep your female in that size tank until it gets to around 6 inches . . .7 in at a push, but as the female of this species can get a legspan of 8-9 inches when full size I would say that a 10 x 12 x 18 would be an ideal size. This doesnt sound like a big tank but when you put a 6 inch spider in, it will look lost in the corner. It will only be when it is fully grown and spread out on the front glass that you will notice that it really needs the few extra inches.
You could start looking about now for it final replacement home as it wont take long for it to reach 6 inches (probably 1-2 moults)

[Erin Wigglesworth]

Thank you for the replies, sounds like we'll need to move her into a bigger tank!

[Peter Lacey]

move her now, into a bigger enclosure, and for this species the taller the better. Why wait til she's a 6" monster when you can move her whilst she's a 4" devil

[Erin Wigglesworth]

Either way (6 inch or 4) I'm still the most nervous tarantula owner in the world when it comes to moving them! I'm fine when they are in their tanks but as soon as there is an element of having to move them from one to another I lose my nerve and freak out. Tried to move a 1.5cm A. versicolor the other evening...Phil had to step in and do it as I got freaked and panicked and thought I was going to squash it. I need some kind of proper hands on lesson in how to move spiders, especially fast moving ones! It's stupid I know, I've kept tarantulas since 1996 yet have minimal experience with moving them and am not at all confident when doing it. I've never really handled any of our tarantulas and think some of it boils down in part to a fear of damaging them and also the 'what if it bites me?' fear.

Don't suppose anyone knows of an evening class I can enroll in that teaches you how to move spiders safely and with confidence? LOL

[Peter Roach]

Where are you ?
Perhaps someone is near you who can show you the best way of moving a T

[Erin Wigglesworth]

I'm in Bedfordshire, half way between Milton Keynes and Cambridge.

[Peter Lacey]

If you come to any of the Invicta meetings we'll show you. Or at any of the shows its possible. Infact you saw how easy it was when Peter Kirk moved my A. geniculata at BTS.

I do large ones outside. Provide a place for them to seek cover and they'll go for it, so its a matter or removing your existing furnishings and coercing them from one enclosure to the next. Alternatively you could do so in the bath.

outside:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR4WbedJNT0

in the bathroom:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwmb1JPJsHM

outside, so quick you don't get to see it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQLi6pMY8Ck

slings/juveniles in the bath:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFFhvcujAJM

[Erin Wigglesworth]

Thanks Pete You make moving look so simple and easy. I think my issue is that I panic for no good reason and then get in a flap which probably spooks the spider causing them to then act a bit more unpredictable, which then freaks me out more! I love the idea of lying the tank on it's side and the T just running in but with our front opening HoS tanks that's not as easy as it sounds unless we hot glue gun the cork tube in place before we put the tank on it's side. I know I just need more practice really. I never really used to have a problem moving Morticia the G. rosea around as she moves quite slowly and is easy enough to herd into a pot and transfer, so maybe it's just because I percieve our other Ts to move faster than snail pace (not that Morticia is essentially a pet rock or anything )